By: Chris Lomon
Steve and Kathleen Kemp have made numerous wise moves over their time in thoroughbred racing. The best one they ever made was the one they chose not to make.
It was just over 25 years ago when the Kemps had a choice to make: stay put in Ontario and grow the farm they recently purchased or head to Texas where Kathleen would continue her job in the technology sector.
After hours spent discussing the pros and cons of both options, the couple opted for Loretto, a picturesque rural community about an hour’s drive northwest of Toronto.
“We bought this farm in Loretto - where we’re at now - back in 1991,” said Steve. “There wasn’t really much on it, just an old cow barn. We had a couple of pleasure riding horses of our own and we had some cattle that we did some showing with. Some time later, we found out Kathleen’s job was with a computer firm that was transferring to Texas. The company provided the opportunity to go there or for her to get a severance package and we’d stay here. We were thinking of building a family and we thought it made sense to stay here in Ontario.”
A portion of the money Kathleen received went back into the farm. Changes, both big and small, were soon the norm on the 100 acres of land.
“One of the first things we did was build a horse barn to do a boarding business,” recalled Steve. “And we spent about eight months doing the show horse boarding thing. But it wasn’t really the niche we were looking for.”
They found that niche after a conversation with a man by the name of Terry Brooker.
A trainer at Woodbine and one of the people who boarded horses at the farm, Brooker floated out the idea of the Kemps co-owning a horse with him.
Little did they know then that it would mark the starting point of a long-term association with thoroughbred racing.
“The horse’s name was Igeta Kickoutofyou,” noted Steve. “We did pretty well with him. He won a few races and we had some fun. After about eight months, after being in the show horse boarding business, we transferred our business over to the thoroughbreds. We had boarders and we purchased one of our first broodmares. Her name was Northern Pine. She did quite well for us. She had a couple of stakes winners. We ended up buying a few more broodmares.”
The Kemps also started making significant additions to their property.
“We expanded the horse business and put up a barn after four years,” said Steve. “We have a six-furlong track with a starting gate, indoor Equiciser, training ring, we can house about 40 horses in the training barn. We have a separate broodmare barn and weanling barn. Now, in the busy time – during the winter – we’re up to boarding about 70 horses. There’s broodmares, yearlings, weanlings, training horses, layups.”
It’s not just Steve and Kathleen doing the yeoman work to take care of what is now known as Ballycroy Training Centre.
The couple’s two daughters and long-serving staff have also played key roles in helping the business thrive.
“It’s a family-run business,” said Steve. “My daughter Karly works here full time. She also gallops horses and acts as an assistant manger for the farm. My younger daughter, Michaela, she’s in her second year at the University of Kentucky. She’s taking the equine science and equine management course there. When she’s home during Christmas, or here on March break or in the summer, she works full time with us on the farm. We also have great staff here, too. They’ve been with us for a while. It’s a really good group.”
The Kemp family at the Queen's Plate.
High-profile horsepeople continue to utilize Ballycroy’s offerings.
With Woodbine just a 35-minute drive from the property, several trainers have brought their horses to Loretto over the years.
“We’ve built up a great clientele through Woodbine,” said Steve. “We train and keep horses for Nick Nosowenko, Ian Black and Ralph Biamonte. We’ve had horses for Danny Vella and Roger Attfield – different people over the years.”
Life at Ballycroy is anything but 9 to 5. Days begin at dawn and end somewhere around the start of the evening news.
HeatherEmily Photograpy.
But there’s nothing else the Kemps would rather be doing.
“We really enjoy the business,” offered Steve, who was in the sheet metal trade and worked with his father before that in a transformer manufacturing company. “We’re out at the barn first thing in the morning and we’re out in the evening at 10 doing night check. Our foaling – we should be foaling out about 30 mares this year – we’ve had 10 so far. We have mares for 3480 Equine, which is Brad Auger and Ron Bacon, who are out west. We’re foaling out about eight mares for him this year.
“We do sales at Woodbine, where we do our own consignment,” he continued. “We had a good sale last year, selling some of our own, selling some for Brad, and we have a mare with Mulholland Springs in Kentucky. We’ll be doing more business for them. We also have six mares for Murray Stroud. We’ve had three foals already for him so far this year. We also have had mares with Michael Loughrey for many years.”
HeatherEmily Photography.
There is an unmistakable tone of optimism in Kemp’s voice when the conversation turns to the future of racing in Ontario.
He acknowledges the challenges that exist, but remains steadfast in his support of the sport, and belief of what the industry can be.
“We’re hoping the program here in Ontario is going to continue to get stronger,” said Steve. “I know it’s had some challenges over the years, but I feel confident that between Ontario Racing, OLG and Woodbine, that they are all on the same page and want to see a successful program. I think we have a great opportunity and a great industry to get to that goal. It’s just going to take some time, some strategy and some good planning to lead to that end result.”
There may also be pleasing results on the racetrack in 2017 for Ballycroy, who have owned and co-owned horses since they shifted their operation to thoroughbreds.
This year, they will likely have more starters than ever before, including several that could make it into the starting gate for Canada’s most famous horse race.
“We had a filly a few years ago named Proud Of My Roots, which is a great name,” noted Steve. “She was a Bold Executive filly. She was a lot of fun. We’ve got a really exciting year coming up. We probably have some of the best-bred horses that we’ve kept to race ourselves.
“We have an Uncle Mo colt, which is Queen’s Plate nominated. We have a Plate-nominated Regal Ransom gelding in partnership with a new owner, a young gentleman named Alex Brouwer, who is excited to be in the game. We have an Exchange Rate gelding, who is also nominated for the Plate, that we have in partnership with Ian Black and Peter Mosakos. And we also have a Lonhro gelding in partnership with Blair Miller. That one is nominated to the Plate, too. There’s a lot of excitement for us this year. We’ll probably have the most horses we’ve ever had running. That’s going to be a whole new angle to the game.”
While it will take equal parts talent and luck for one of their horses to contest the Plate, one guarantee does exist: the Kemps and the Ballycroy staff will be trackside at the Toronto oval for any race they have a horse in.
“Whether it’s foaling season or the start of the racing season, whenever we run a horse at Woodbine or Fort Erie, I don’t think we’ve ever missed a race where one of horses has been in,” noted Steve. “We take our staff down and we make it an enjoyable day for everybody.”
Twenty-six years after purchasing the farm, plenty has changed for the Kemps and Ballycroy. One thing that’s remained a constant, however, is the satisfaction in knowing the big decision they made was without a doubt the right one.
“We have 50 acres on the next road over that we’re going to be building a new barn on this summer,” said Steve. “It’s going to be strictly for broodmares over there. There have been challenges over the years, but we enjoy it. We always have and we still do. We’ve met great people and have had so much fun. It’s a pretty exciting game to be involved in. It always has its exciting points that keep you going.”
Top image courtesy of HeatherEmily Photography (
www.facebook.com/heatheremilyphotography/)
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